The present invention relates to a child-resistant container and more specifically to a child-resistant container for storing a blister pack having an arrangement of blisters each of which contains a tablet or capsule.
Many pharmaceutical products such as tablets and capsules are packaged in blister packs to deter children from obtaining and ingesting the products, to provide a small quantity of medication in a cost effective package and to allow for compliance throughout the medication cycle. In addition, the blister packs are commonly utilized as physician samples for specific drugs and are not always packaged in a child-resistant package/container. The designer of such blister packs is confronted with conflicting requirements. The blister pack should be child-resistant and at the same time able to be opened without unreasonable difficulty. Typical blister packs are known to be difficult for some adults to open while still failing to be a deterrent for unsupervised children. In addition, blister packs are often utilized to help users keep track of their daily dosage of medication, which is taken over long periods of time. Storage of multiple blister packs in a single location aids a patient in remembering to take their medication each day over the months and years that the patient may need the medication.
A child-resistant container for storing blister packs provides a second layer of safety. To be effective the container should require a degree of perception and manual dexterity above the abilities of unsupervised children attempting to gain access to the contents of the blister pack and should also be easy for adults to use. A container requiring the coordinated use of both hands and the simultaneous application of a force to both a latch and a lock assembly to gain access to the blister pack, such as the container of the invention disclosed herein, should provide the requisite level of protection.
A container that is able to conveniently store multiple blister packs that also present a convenient tool for a patient to remember to take their medication over numerous months and years is also disclosed herein. The container may include a number of trays that require the coordinated use of both hands to open and store a plurality of blister packs corresponding to multiple days, months or years worth of medication for a patient.